Driscoll Berci (Bazz-Beatz)
Driscoll Berci (ドリスコール・ベルチ, Dorisukōru Beruchi) is an Echt Quincy and a member of the Wandenreich's Sternritter with the designation “S” for “The Schlachter”. Driscoll is a vicious Sternritter with incredible offensive ability granted by the power of his Schrift and considered a mid-tier combatant within the army. He’s usually seen partnered with the other physical powerhouse, Mask De Masculine, with the duo being a frightening force of destruction once they are set loose amongst their prey. Driscoll holds the distinguished honor of killing 1st Division Lieutenant Chōjirō Sasakibe, marking him as the first Sternritter to cause a significant death within the Thousand-Year Blood War and setting plans in motion that would lead to the eventual demise of Captain Commander Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. He is also responsible for killing many Shinigami within the 9th Division, facing both its lieutenant and captain during the same battle. Appearance Driscoll is a broad, towering individual of italian decent, standing at almost twice the height of the average Shinigami, with black bushy hair that's styled somewhat in a bell shape and extends downward to form a chinstrap beard. His features are very chiseled, like stone with a pronounced brow and eyebrowless, grey eyes and full lips. His facial appearance is very similar to that of the Espada, Yammy Llargo. He possesses an equally massive build that dwarfs all other individuals except for Mask, who has a similar frame to Driscoll. His attire is a variation of the Sternritter's typical white uniform, consisting of the order's signature hooded-cloak and a calf-length trench coat tied at the waist by a black belt, which has a length of chain on either side attached to a single ring at the back. Beneath this, he wears a white cravat and white military issued pants, and black boots with white boot coverings. Personality Driscoll is incredibly bloodthirsty and demonstrates no mercy towards his opponents, always ruthlessly attacking them with brutal and lethal force. This mentality is essential to power his Schrift, which gains power by the more he kills. He shows absolutely no remorse for those he fights or has previously killed, openly deriding them even in the midst of battle. He seems to have little to no patience towards those he finds weak, considering them a waste of his time. Though even against stronger opponents, such as captains of the Gotei 13, he speaks to them in a condescending manner. Driscoll appears to be extremely overconfident and arrogant, believing he was more than capable of eliminating 9th Division Lieutenant, Shuhei Hisagi , and delighted at the prospect of killing 9th Division Captain, Kensei Muguruma , and later on Captain Commander Yamamoto when he appeared on the battlefield. This marks that he only finds strong opponents worth his time, and even then presents himself extremely cocky and arrogant. He went so far as ordering Mask de Masculine to leave the Shinigami all to Driscoll himself, showing that even amonst the Sternritter, he finds himself superior to many of them. Driscoll has absolutely no respect towards the Shinigami and their traditions, going so far as calling the Captain Commander an "Old Geezer". Despite his overconfidence, when he finds himself pressed in battle, he begins to lash out violently towards everyone and everything around him, swearing and cursing at his opponents while becoming extremely enraged. Plot The Thousand-Year Blood War During the Wandenreich's declaration of war on Soul Society, Driscoll takes part in the massacre of 106 Shinigami at the Black Ridge Gate, where he confronts 1st Division Lieutenant Chōjirō Sasakibe. It is unknown how the lieutenant battled against the mighty Sternritter, but the results were Chōjirō's Bankai being stolen and Driscoll impaling him with an oversized Heilig Pfeil, which propels the lieutenant to Captain-Commander Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's office, before retreating. Upon receiving the orders of Yhwach, he and the other Sternritter gather at the Gate of the Sun before traveling to the Seireitei to participate in the destruction of Soul Society. Upon arriving, he and the other Sternritter create pillars of blue flames prior to engaging the Shinigami in battle, causing widespread devastation and claiming the lives of many soldiers. Driscoll himself had slayed nearly 200 Shinigami before confronting 9th Division Lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi and soon overwhelms him while remarking on how it pathetic the lieutenant must be to be so weak. Asking Hisagi if he is afraid of his power, Driscoll explains how he was bestowed his epithet, "The Schlachter", with him becoming stronger with each opponent he kills, taking particular joy in their final screams before ending their lives. Setting his sights on the beaten lieutenant, Driscoll reels back a single hand and forms a massive Heilig Pfeil. Driscoll comments on he will be simply another number on his death count and launches the fearsome Quincy attack towards an immobile Hisagi. As the lieutenant watched in disbelief that this may, in fact, be his end, a blast of white energy struck the Heilig Pfeil, causing it to explode with tremendous force. Driscoll quickly turned towards the source and found Captain Mugurama standing there with his Zanpakutō, Tachikaze, released in Shikai and clutched firmly in his hand. The energy from his attack still coming off of it like white pale smoke rising from embers. * On The Butcher's Block Powers & Abilities Great Strength: Even for a Human, Driscoll possesses phenomenal levels of strength that is only further augmented when in the spirit worlds and manipulating his Blut. His strength easily allows him to tear weaker opponents apart, such as he did when he plowed through the 9th Division, and horribly maim them in the process. Since his principal fighting style revolves around close quarter combat and unarmed battle, it benefits from his incredible strength and Driscoll is able to send opponents flying with his hits. The force of his hits also deal great amounts of damage, even against captain level opponents. Given his massive frame, grappling gains the greatest benefit as he can easily grab opponents who unable to escape his clutch. He can wield oversized weapons, such as the javelin form of his Heilig Pfeil and the large cleaver weapon, Hackbeil, in his Vollständig. Driscoll is a Quincy who primarily uses his strength to overpower his opponents, it being the statistic he relies on overall during combat. Using Blut Arterie only further increases this large level of strength that places him among the more dangerous Sternritter within Yhwach's army. Great Durability: Driscoll is a Quincy with a massive frame that is comprised of solid muscle. This allows him to absorb the impact of blunt attacks more efficiently then other Quincy and he can shrug off blows with no visible signs of injury. This level of durability allowed him to survive attacks from numerous Shinigami within the 9th Division and remain unharmed battling against Hisagi Shuhei. It was only when Kensei Muguruma intervened did he sustain any injuries. Theoretically, with his Schrift's special ability, his durability only increases further the more he kills. Using Blut Vene, his durability increases further to the point of cancelling Shikai released Shinigami without injury and even reducing the damage of Bankai wielding captains. Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Driscoll is an extremely ferocious and violent physical combatant that uses his massive strength and size to rend his opponents limb from limb. Also using his impressive speed, he can quickly appear near an opponent and unleash a devastating assault of attacks before an opponent has the chance to escape his grasp. Though not possessing a particularly refined style of fighting, it can be mainly described as instinctive and vicious and tends to pummel his opponents into a bloody pulp with his bare hands. It was with combat ability that he was able to make short work of the officers of the 9th Division and further enhance himself through his Schrift. When he fights, he tends to use his fists mostly since they are also enhanced by his spirit weapon. Its mainly a brutal form of brawling, but also utilizes grabs to throw his opponents through walls or smash them against the ground. He has no empathy when battling his foes so he isn't above tearing off body parts or snapping necks without a single moment's hesitation. His combat ability also allows him to fight on par with Hakuda Masters such as Kensei Muguruma and even gain an advantage through his other powers. Reishi Manipulation: As a Quincy, he primarily absorbs spiritual energy from the atmosphere and combines it with his own spiritual energy to form weapons. He has an easier time collecting this energy in environments with higher concentrations of Reishi, such as Soul Society or Hueco Mundo. Despite his brutal nature, Driscoll appears to be skilled enough to draw in Reishi and fight against Shinigami captains on equal ground. *'Hirenkyaku' (飛廉脚, "Flying Screen Step/God Step"; Viz: "Flying Bamboo-Blind Leg"): An advanced Quincy movement technique, allowing the user to move at high speed by riding on the flow of Reishi created below their feet. Essentially, it is the Quincy equivalent to the Shinigami's Shunpo and the Arrancar's Sonído. To perform this technique, the user gathers Reishi under their feet and rides them to the desired location. Hirenkyaku enables Quincy to keep up with and overpower faster opponents depending on the user's skill. Even for a man of his size, Driscoll shows enough experience in manipulating Reishi for Hirenkyaku to successfully keep up with captain level opponents such as Kensei Muguruma and battle him on equal footing. *'Blut' (血装 (ブルート), burūto; German for "Blood", Japanese for "Blood Guise"): A Quincy ability that gives one inhuman defensive & offensive capability. By making Reishi flow directly into their blood vessels, users of this technique can drastically increase their attack and defense power to inhuman levels. However, despite the significant danger this potentially presents to one's opponents, Blut possesses one major flaw: because the independent forms of the technique for attack and defense operate using two different Reishi systems, they cannot be employed simultaneously. As an Echt Quincy, Driscoll is able to naturally wield Blut and both its variations to aid him during battle against Hollows, Arrancar and Shinigami. **'Blut Vene' (静血装 (ブルート・ヴェーネ), burūto vēne; German for "Blood Vein", Japanese for "Stilled Blood Guise"): The defensive form of Blut, which grants the user inhuman durability, is represented by a faint pattern tracing the veins beneath the surface of their skin, which is only visible on the afflicted area when struck. If consciously kept at full power, even attacks delivered by a Shinigami's Bankai can potentially be negated completely. However, despite the considerable defense afforded by this technique, it is seemingly not absolute, and can be torn using sufficient power. Additionally, Blut Vene can be used to aid the user against critical wounds which have already been inflicted by stopping the severe loss of blood which would result from said wound. Combined with his already impressive natural ability, Driscoll's Blut Vene is incredibility powerful and enough to negate Kensei Muguruma's Bankai enough to survive multiple strikes from it. Activating Blut Vene transforms Driscoll into a living juggernaut, able to withstand powerful attacks with little to no injury. **'Blut Arterie' (動血装 (ブルート・アルテリエ), burūto aruterie; German for "Blood Artery", Japanese for "Moving Blood Guise"): The offensive form of Blut which grants the user inhuman attack power. This technique is the only thing capable of ensuring a Quincy's attacks can significantly damage a Bankai-wielding Shinigami. Driscoll appears to not rely on Arterie too often. Instead, he relies on his own natural strength and increasing power through his Schrift while keeping Blut Vene active to protect him against retaliation. Great Spiritual Power: Driscoll's spiritual power is on a level comparable to or greater than that of a captain-level Shinigami. This is proven true when he defeats 1st Division Lieutenant Chōjirō Sasakibe, a Shinigami of captain-level power, single-handedly and then effortlessly overwhelmed 9th Division Lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi during their battle and called him weak. He was able to battle Captain Muguruma on equal grounds and confidentally stated that he could take care of the captain without the aid of his Vollständig. Also, because of his great spiritual power, his Heilig Pfeils are incredibly powerful and much larger than other Sternritters. Spirit Weapon Reishi Tekkō: As a Quincy, Driscoll can gather both spirit energy and particles to form them into weapons. His favored weapon is a pair of tekkō-like bands worn on his hands, which encircle his knuckles and feature the Wandenreich insignia at either end. These bands also enhance the force of his punches, and regularly engages in physical combat as his principal means of fighting. These weapons allow him to kill numerous unseated officers of the Gotei 13 without much effort. *'Heilig Pfeil' (神聖滅矢 (ハイリッヒ・ブファイル), Hairihhi Pufairu; German for "Holy Arrow"; Japanese for "Sacred Destruction Arrows"): By collecting Reishi between his weapons, Driscoll can form the spiritual arrows which are typical of other Quincy bows. However, his are unusual: they are several times longer than the average person, and possess a cross at the end of their narrow shaft. Due to their size and the way they are formed, he fires them individually by throwing them, in a manner akin to a javelin, with enough force to not only pierce the body of a captain-level Shinigami with ease, but propel an impaled victim a considerable distance away. Schrift The Schlachter (大量虐殺 (ザ・シュラクター), Za Shurakutā; German for "Butcher"; Japanese for "Massacre"): Driscoll possesses the ability to greatly increase his own power through simply killing his targets. By his own claim, he will continue to grow stronger the more he kills, regardless of what form each victim actually takes, be it enemy, ally, or even beast. When he arrived on the battlefield his power was enough to easily dispatch numerous unseated officers, and with his power growing, he was able to effortlessly defeat Lieutenant Hisagi and later challenge Kensei Muguruma. It was only because he had not killed any additional targets that he could not overpower the captain. Because of this power, he never leaves any of his victims alive, regardless if their deaths were unnecessary or required. There does appear to be a time limit to how long he can hold on to this increase in power. If enough time has gone by where he hasn't killed anything, his power begins to decrease to its base levels. It is unknown how much each death increases his power, but several dozen kills were enough to easily overpower a lieutenant and match a captain in Shikai. Quincy: Vollständig Rogziel (神の正義(ログザイル), Roguzairu; Japanese for “Wrath of God”) Only Sternritter with exceptional power and training are able to utilize Quincy: Vollständig to its maximum potential. As such, Driscoll is able to undergo a complete transformation aside from a generic halo or wing design that some of the more inexperienced Quincy gain upon their release. When activating Rogziel, Driscoll removes the Sanrei pin holding his cravat in place and is immediately engulfed in a pillar of light and releases an incredible amount of spiritual power in the process. The pillar is a light blue in color and forms into the a five-point star at the top of it. The pillar then dissolves into a liquid form of Reishi as it washes over the battlefield and reveals his new appearance. Replacing his uniform is a long white apron tattered at the edges that covers his entire front and comes down passed his knees. Underneath the apron he continues to wear his uniform's pants and boots, but is now shirtless save for the apron covering his chest. There are two sets of large silver buttons that hold the apron to his chest and the other set is held over the belt. His arms are completely wrapped in bandages with the names off those he's killed written in blood, while his spirit weapon has grown thicker with studs sticking out across its surface similar to brass knuckles. These bandages cover from his fingers to his shoulders, with several of them frayed at the edges and continuing out behind him, creating a set of wings composed of numerous strands with more names written on them. His cravat is replaced with a very high collar connected to the apron that covers his entire neck and ends directly under the chin, making it appear as though his neck is elongated. The sclera of his eyes are now red, with tears of blood streaming down the edges of his eyes to his jawline, creating an eerie pattern. Driscoll also gains a five-pointed star shaped Quincy Zeichen halo directly above his head, though it appears thorny and more jagged. While angelic in some features, Driscoll's Rogziel takes on the form of a butcher with its apron and new spirit weapon that he can summon. *'Hackbeil' (神恐れ包丁 (ハックビール), Hakkubīru; German for "Cleaver"; Japanese for "God-Fearing Cleaver") By absorbing nearby Reishi, Driscoll can form a new spirit weapon in the form of a massive cleaver, further emphasizing his butcher appearance and the power of his Schrift. Hackbeil is compsed entirely of spirit particles and glows with a very bright white light with a light blue outline. Its durable enough to withstand direct impact from attacks and its size allows Driscoll to use it as a shield of sorts by placing it in front of himself to intercept the attacks. With its sharp edge and Driscoll's massive strength, Hackbeil proves to have enough power to completely cleave through a building sized structure while releasing enough force to send it as a wave to continuously cut through anything behind it. Even with its size, because Driscoll possesses incredible physical power he can easily wield it with no visible difficulty. * Increased Strength: It appears that when Driscoll activates Rogziel, he gains a drastic increase to his strength that is more than a much against Kensei's Bankai and a Hollow form. This level of extreme strength allows Driscoll to throw opponents throw buildings with a single swing and create powerful waves of force when swinging his blade. Even a passing fist has enough force to deal damage without actually hitting its target. Combined with Hackbeil, Driscoll can cause massive amounts of damage to his opponents and the environment around him, and he's stated that whenever using Rogziel, the landscape remains forever damaged from the violence and destruction he unleashes upon it. Behind the Scenes *This Driscoll Berci deviates from the canon Thousand-Year Blood War shortly he kills 1st Division Lieutenant Chōjirō Sasakibe, making his arrival near the 9th Division barracks different and the subsequent battle he had against the Captain Commander. * Driscoll's Vollständig: Rogziel's appearance is based on Pyramid Head from Silent Hill. * His role was further expanded to show more of his abilities while fighting Captain Kensei Muguruma and Lieutenant Hisagi, and never wielded Lieutenant Chōjirō's Bankai against the Captain Commander. *Canon information on shared Quincy techniques were gathered from the Main Bleach Wiki site. All credit goes to them for that information. Category:Quincy